Fuel injectors, which are preferably suitable for direct injection of fuel into the combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine, are usually equipped with valve needles which are either riveted to an armature, which is actuated by the valve needle, or they are connected to the armature in a friction-locking or form-locking manner by two sleeves welded to the valve needle.
One disadvantage of the method of riveting the armature onto the valve needle is in particular that high forces are needed to reliably join the valve needle and the armature. This may easily result in deformation of or cracks in the material of the armature or the valve needle, which may later result in malfunctions in operation of the fuel injector.
If the armature and the valve needle are joined by flanges welded to the valve needle, the manufacturing and installation complexity due to the large number of components which are assembled is a particular disadvantage.